The Justice in Southeast Asia Lab (JSEALab) hosts a visiting scholar or practitioner based in Southeast Asia working on questions of social justice, broadly-conceived, to spend time at UW-Madison for a short residency every year. The individual selected will visit UW to meet with colleagues, use library resources, and have a brief period of time for their own work. While at UW, they will be asked to give one public lecture, which will also be recorded for wider dissemination. An honorarium of 4000 USD (subject to taxation) will be provided; these funds may be supplemented with the individual’s own funds.
FAQ about Short Residency on Social Justice/Southeast Asia:
Q: Who is eligible?
A: A scholar or practitioner either based at an institution in Southeast Asia or working independently in Southeast Asia on social justice. You should have a relevant terminal degree for your field; current students are not eligible.
Q: How long is the residency?
A: This is up to the individual to decide. UW-Madison will provide visa assistance and a $4000 honorarium (before taxes) to assist with costs; you may supplement the honorarium with other sources of funding.
Q: How many people will be selected?
A: One per academic year.
Q: How do I apply?
A: TBD for 2025-2026
Q: When are applications due?
A: TBD for 2025-2026
Q: When will a decision be made?
A: TBD for 2025-2026
Additional questions, please email jsealab@wisc.edu.
Previous Scholars-in-Residence
JSEALab Scholar-in-Residence (March 2025): Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers is Lecturer and Special Advisor on International Affairs at the Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Naresuan University (Thailand). He is a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore), the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance, and the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. He is also the executive editor of the Taylor & Francis (SCOPUS) journal Asian Affairs: an American Review. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications. Recent works include Khaki Capital: The Political Economy of the Military in Southeast Asia (NIAS, 2017) and Praetorian Kingdom: A History of Military Ascendancy in Thailand (ISEAS, 2024). His research centers upon comparative politics (including civil-military relations) and international affairs in Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand.
While at UW-Madison, he is using library resources, meeting with students and faculty, and giving a public lecture.
JSEALab Scholar-in-Residence (August-September 2024): Anon Chawalawan
Anon Chawalawan is the founder and director of the Museum of Popular History (https://www.commonmuze.com). He is also the manager of iLaw, a Human Rights organization in Thailand. Anon began his career at iLaw in 2013 as an officer of the Freedom of Expression Documentation Center; his main duty at the time was to observe political trials, especialy lèse majesté trials. Anon is also responsible for the writing of the annual Freedom of Expression Situation reports and represents iLaw in diplomatic briefings and in international advocacy missions. Anon founded the Museum of Popular History in 2018 as his private project. In 2023, Anon agreed with iLaw to merge the Museum as a project under iLaw; the transition process was completed in 2024. Anon obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History from Ramkhamheang University in 2007. Later, in 2010, he obtained a Master of Arts in Politics (Specialization in International Relations) from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. In 2012, he obtained a Master of Arts in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes from the University for Peace.
While at UW-Madison, he met with a range of librarian and archive staff for exchange and network building. He also gave a public lecture, “THE MUSEUM OF POPULAR HISTORY: The Political Lives of Ordinary People in Thailand,” a recording of which can be watched here.
Inaugural JSEALab Scholar-in-Residence (August-September 2023): Dr. Sol Iglesias
Dr. Sol Iglesias is the Inaugural JSEALab Scholar-in-Residence, visiting UW-Madison in August-September 2023. Dr. Iglesias is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, having joined the faculty in 2021. She has a PhD in Southeast Asian Studies and an MA in Political Science from the National University of Singapore, as well as an MA in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines. She won an American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Asia Program fellowship in 2021 and had been selected as an emerging scholar on democracy and autocracy by the APSA Democracy and Autocracy Committee in 2020. She was selected as a Southeast Asia Research Group (SEAREG) Fellow in 2017. She is a core group member of the Network in Defense of Historical Truth and Academic Freedom and lead author of the Philippine case in the 2022 Free to Think report of Scholars at Risk. She has published extensively on political violence in the Philippines, as well as on Philippine politics and current affairs. She is currently writing a book, How a Weak State Governs: The Dynamics of Violence in Philippine Politics, on the central-local interactions that produced violence in the democratic interregnum between the Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. dictatorship and authoritarianism under Rodrigo Duterte.
While at UW-Madison, she worked on her book project and gave the first Friday Forum lecture of the 2023-2024 academic year. A recording of that lecture can be watched here.